C. Hayden Coffin

Coffin was born in Manchester. His parents were from Maine in the U.S., and his father, Charles Reuel Coffin (1822–1890),[https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8767&h=22722977&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv870&_phstart=successSource Charles Reuel Coffin], 1861 England Census, Ancestry.com {{subscription required}}; [https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8914&h=6804976&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv869&_phstart=successSource Charles Reuel Coffin], England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837–1915, Ancestry.com {{subscription required}} was a dentist. His mother was Sarah Powell (née Munsey) Coffin (1831–1913).Gänzl, Kurt. [http://kurtofgerolstein.blogspot.com/2018/11/blog-post_16.html "'Tottie' and 'Charlie': matinee idol"], Kurt of Gerolstein, 16 November 2018[https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1861&indiv=try&h=22722978 Sarah Powell Coffin], 1861 England Census, Ancestry.com {{subscription required}}; [https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8914&h=6805716&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=djv873&_phstart=successSource Sarah Powell Coffin], England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837–1915, Ancestry.com {{subscription required}}

His foundation schooling was at University College, London where he was captain of the school for the whole of his final year.[https://books.google.com/books?id=P-iGPzdOcYwC] The Illustrated American, Vol 13], Illustrated American Publishing Company,(1893), p. 432 Coffin passed the preliminary examinations to enter the College of Surgeons, but decided instead to become a singer. He studied under Edith Abell from Boston and was a member of the Royal Choral Society for three years led by Joseph Barnby.[https://archive.org/details/abellfamilyiname00abel The Abell family in America], The Tuttle Publishing Company, Rutland, Vermont (1940), pp. 188–189

In 1883, he performed as an amateur at St. George's Hall in London as Tom Gilroy in H. J. Byron's Partners for Life[https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000053/18830113/015/0007 "The Paulatim Dramatic Club"], The Era, 13 January 1883, p. 7, retrieved 16 January 2019, via British Newspaper Archive {{subscription required}} and as Vivid in Monsieur Jacques.[https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000053/18830623/030/0013 "The Philothespian Club"], The Era, 23 June 1883, p. 13, retrieved 16 January 2019, via British Newspaper Archive {{subscription required}}

File:Dorothy, Hayden Coffin as Harry Sherwood.jpg]]

Coffin made his professional stage debut as John Smith in Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy's Pocahontas (1885). He then played in Lady of the Locket (1885), by William Fullerton Jr. and Henry Hamilton, which was the first production designed by his friend Percy Anderson,Coffin, pp. 25–27 and 34–39 and Coriolon in Lily of Leoville by Ivan Caryll (1886).[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_l/lilyleoville.htm Lily of Leoville], Guide to Musical Theatre, retrieved 29 October 2009 Coffin rose to fame as Harry Sherwood in Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson's record-setting hit Dorothy (1886), in which he introduced the popular song, "Queen of My Heart." Coffin's good looks and powerful voice made him one of the most popular stage baritones of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/who19.htm "Who's Who in Musicals: Additional Bios IX"], Musicals101, retrieved 23 July 2020 Early in his career, he also had successes with the same team's Doris (1889), Solomon and Henry Pottinger Stephens' The Red Hussar (1889, as Sir Harry Leighton), F. C. Burnand's adaptation of Edmond Audran's La Cigale (1890), and Captain Therese (1890), among others. He spent the 1892–93 season in New York City co-starring in several productions with soprano Lillian Russell. He also starred in a number of pantomimes.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Coffin returned to London in 1893 to star in a series of hit Edwardian musical comedies produced by George Edwardes and composed by Sidney Jones and then Lionel Monckton. His roles in these included Charles Goldfield in A Gaiety Girl (1893), Rudolph Blair in An Artist's Model (1895), Reginald Fairfax in The Geisha (1896), Diomed in A Greek Slave (1898), Captain Bobby Preston in San Toy (1899), Geoffrey Challoner in A Country Girl (1903) and Harry Vereker in The Cingalee (1904). He also starred in Veronique (1904), as Charlie Chetwynd in The Girl Behind the Counter (1906) and in the title role in Tom Jones (1907). Coffin had a brief London run and tour in Two Merry Monarchs (1910) as Prince Charmis and then played Captain Charteris in another hit, The Quaker Girl (1910).[https://gsarchive.net/british/quaker/index.html "The Quaker Girl"], Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 17 February 2017

File:Hayden Coffin, A Country Girl.jpg]]

File:Coffin, Hayden, 1887. Photo Walery.jpg

In his later years, Coffin turned to serious drama, including Shakespearean roles, such as Feste in Twelfth Night at the Savoy Theatre in 1912.Coffin, p. 274 He also made occasional appearances in musicals such as Young England (1916) and in Charles B. Cochran's revue As You Were (1918), which ran for a year."Sir Charles Cochran", The Times, 1 February 1951, p. 8[https://books.google.com/books?id=lv0ZiG55LVkC&pg=PA48-IA2 As You Were] in The Play Pictorial, vol. 33, no. 199, p. 48 (8 March 1918). The piece was composed by Herman Darewski and Edouard Mathe, with a book and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis, and starring Coffin and Alice Delysia; it was adapted from a French revue, Plus ça change, by "Rip" He made several films until 1930, including It's Always the Woman (1916), and also continued touring through the 1920s. In 1929, he played Sir Harry Bumper in The School for Scandal at the Kingsway Theatre,[http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/icons/playbills/PLAYDAT4.htm Play Pictorial 1930–1939] at the University of Kent, retrieved 6 January 2009 repeating the role in the 1930 film adaptation.[http://movies.tvguide.com/the-school-for-scandal/116957 "The School For Scandal"], TV Guide, retrieved 30 June 2014

Coffin was first engaged to the songwriter Hope Temple but married actress Adeline de Leuw. De Leuw had been divorced by her first husband, the composer Alberto Randegger, on the grounds of her adultery with Coffin.{{cite news | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18920315/023/0003 |title=The Law Courts| date=15 March 1892 |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=London Evening Standard}} Coffin had an older brother, Walter, and a long affair with Maud ("Mamie") Ella Cohn Christie (1877–1966), which produced two children: Crystal (b. 1914) and Errol (b. 1918) Hayden Christie.

Coffin died in Kensington, London, at the age of 73 and was buried in a plot containing his mother and the ashes of his father on 11 December 1935 at St John the Baptist, Woking, Surrey.[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/4786/40815_1831101883_1234-000 "Charles Hayden Coffin"], Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813–1987, Surrey History Centre (WOKJ/4/7), via Ancestry.co.uk, retrieved 9 January 2019 {{subscription required}}; [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/4786/40815_1831109333_1981-00023 "Charles Reuel Coffin"], Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813–1987, Surrey History Centre (WOKJ/4/7), via Ancestry.co.uk, retrieved 9 January 2019 {{subscription required}}; and [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/4786/40815_1831109333_1979-00068 "Sarah Powell Coffin"], Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813–1987, Surrey History Centre (WOKJ/4/5), via Ancestry.co.uk, retrieved 13 January 2019 {{subscription required}}

Coffin made a small number of records for the Gramophone Company, as follows:Bennett, J. R. Voices of the Past: Vol. I A Catalogue of vocal recordings from the English Catalogue of The Gramophone Company, etc. (Oakwood Press, 1955).

• 4-2834 When travelling days are over Young England (Hubert Bath) c. 1916, 10", coupled on E35. (speed 81)
• 2-4385 Young Fresh England Young England (Hubert Bath) in ensemble, 10", coupled on E 35.
• 02714 Who sings of England? Young England (G. H. Clutsam), 1916–17, 12", coupled on D200.

{{reflist}}

Coffin, C. Hayden. Hayden Coffin's Book: Packed with Acts and Facts, London: Alston Rivers (1930).

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• [http://www.musicals101.com/who19.htm Profile of Coffin]
• {{IMDb name|0168922|Hayden Coffin}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040127091006/http://www.farahardupre.co.uk/cgi-bin/cc_search/booksearch.cgi/Search?search=+Subject:music%20dance&first=130 |date=27 January 2004 |title=Information about Coffin }}
• [https://www.marxists.org/archive/eleanor-marx/1890/theatre.htm Two reviews of Coffin]
• [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp50901 Photos of Coffin]
• [http://www.soldiersofthequeen.com/page14i-HaydenCofin.html 1894 photo of Coffin]

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Category:English male musical theatre actors

Category:1862 births

Category:1935 deaths

Category:Male actors from Manchester

Category:Singers from Manchester

Category:19th-century English male actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:English male Shakespearean actors